Five council members are up for reelection in 2012, under staggered terms created by the county charter, and no challengers filed by Wednesday's deadline for the March primaries.

Two Republicans filed with the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections to challenge two of the incumbents in the November general election. The other three incumbents still could face independent challengers in November. Independent candidates may file later.

The incumbents are touting their achievements over the past year, as part of the charter government that replaced three county commissioners and a plethora of elected officials with an 11-member council and an elected executive.

"Most of what we've done so far is about setting up the structure," said Councilman Dale Miller. "We still have a lot of work to do, particularly to make the government help make things better in the community."

About 10 percent of the county population will be represented by each council member in 2012, after council districts were reconfigured to reflect population changes documented by the 2010 census.

Miller, a Democrat, will likely face Republican Anna Melendez of Cleveland, a Tupperware saleswoman, in District 2 (parts of Cleveland's West Side, Brook Park and Lakewood) if the petitions are declared valid.

Miller, 62, of Cleveland, is a former Cleveland councilman and state legislator who this year served as council's go-to leader on legislative procedure. He earned a doctorate in psychology and this year shepherded through a laborious list of council rules, helped shape an ethics ordinance and presided over weeks of budget hearings.

Now, he wants to focus on creating jobs and improving social conditions, and he proposes asking voters to pass a new tax for mental health and addiction services.

Melendez, 50, who has a degree in urban studies and historic preservation, is a former weightlifter and event planner.

In 2006, she filed for bankruptcy, listing $20,000 in debt, which was discharged. But she said the bankruptcy was the result of a cut in hours at her event-planning job and would not hamper her ability to serve on council, which has financial oversight of the county.

"I had no problems managing money," Melendez said.

Melendez said the current council has not met the county's need for new jobs. She also does not believe the council is open enough, citing a private meeting Democrats held last December to choose District 9 Councilwoman C. Ellen Connally as president.

"I along with countless others are not happy with the new administration," she said. "I bring a new point of view and a new interest."

In District 4 (Parma, Parma Heights and Middleburg Heights), Democrat Chuck Germana will likely face Republican Joe Borsuk, who owns a graphic design business in Parma.

Germana, 65, an insurance agent and former president of the Parma City Council, has a bachelor's degree in economics. He ran for Parma mayor this year, but lost. "If the mantra was to restore the trust in county government, I think we have," Germana said. "So I think we want to continue to make people proud of the government they allowed to be created."

Borsuk, 46, has a bachelor's degree in fine art and psychology and wants to encourage Parma businesses, in part by making them more competitive with other cities in the county.

"I think there needs to be a change," said Borsuk, who has been involved in the Parma Republican Club. "The currently leadership has directly overseen the decline of the city economically."

Borsuk was charged in 1989 with domestic violence, a misdemeanor, after a fight with his then-wife. He was found guilty of disorderly conduct, according to court records. The police report said Borsuk's wife complained that she was pushed, punched and bitten. Borsuk said this week that the charges were false.

"We were just 24 years old, young and dumb," Borsuk wrote in an e-mail. "We had a heated argument as young couples do."

Also unopposed are Democrat Pernel Jones Jr. of Cleveland in District 8 (parts of Cleveland's East Side, Cuyahoga Heights, Garfield Heights, Maple Heights and Newburgh Heights) and Democrat Julian Rogers of Cleveland Heights in District 10 (parts of Cleveland's East Side, Bratenahl, Cleveland Heights, East Cleveland and University Heights)

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